Anders Eklund

Per Anders Eklund (born August 6, 1965) is a Swedish murderer and rapist convicted of killing a 31-year-old woman in 2000 and a 10-year-old girl in 2008. Eklund is also a suspect in other murder cases currently under investigation, including the unsolved 1994 murder of Malin Olsson in Gothenburg. On October 6, 2008, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the two murders, one rape in Sandviken 2006 and on child pornography charges.

Eklund’s case became the most noted and followed criminal case in Sweden during 2008, along with the crimes of Christine Schürrer.

In September 2014 the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet revealed that Eklund was a suspect in yet another murder, this time the murder of six-year-old Jasmina Jasharaj who went missing without a trace in 1997. Even though the police have not found her body, they are treating the case as a homicide.

Höglund murder

Engla Juncosa Höglund

On April 5, 2008, 10-year-old Engla Juncosa Höglund went missing on her way home from soccer practice in Stjärnsund, Sweden. When she did not answer her mobile phone, Engla Höglund’s mother, Carina Höglund, went looking for her. Carina Höglund found her daughter’s abandoned bicycle in the woods. The mother quickly suspected foul play and stated that her daughter did not have the physical strength to dispose of the bicycle in that way. By coincidence, a man was out testing his new digital camera around the time of Höglund’s disappearance and he snapped photos of his surroundings, including one photo of 10-year-old Engla Höglund riding her bike. The man also snapped a photo of a red Saab 900 following the young girl. The driver of the red car was later revealed to be Anders Eklund. After the photographer stepped forward and showed police his photos, Eklund was identified and consequently arrested. On April 13, 2008, after days of interrogations by experts from Rikskriminalpolisen, Eklund confessed to the murder and revealed where to find Höglund’s body. During these interrogations Eklund also confessed to the murder of Pernilla Hellgren.

Höglund’s death became headline news, as most people had high hopes of finding the girl alive. Höglund’s funeral on May 10, 2008 was broadcast live on television on SVT1, the first time in Swedish television history any such broadcast was made. The decision to broadcast the funeral was questioned and it sparked a debate whether it was ethical or not.

Hellgren murder

Pernilla Hellgren

On June 4, 2000 in Falun, 31-year-old Pernilla Hellgren was found murdered. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted. A young girl on her way home had witnessed the attack, and told investigators that she saw a man following Hellgren on her way home from a party in central Falun. DNA found on Hellgren’s body was a match to Eklund, who confessed to the murder when investigators in the Engla-case presented the DNA-evidence that implicated him.

Trial and imprisonment

On July 18, 2008, Anders Eklund faced charges in a court of law. The prosecutor charged him with two counts of murder and two counts of rape. In addition to those charges he was also charged with several counts of illegal possession of child pornography.

In August, 2008, after a relatively swift trial he was found guilty of all charges and declared not mentally ill. On October 6, 2008, Anders Eklund was sentenced to life imprisonment for the two murders, one rape in Sandviken 2006 and for the child pornography crimes.

Following the sentencing, Eklund was transferred to the Norrtälje Correctional Facility, a high-security prison north of Stockholm. The Norrtälje Correctional Facility has a special wing for sex offenders, publicly called “the sex bunker”, in which Anders Eklund was placed.

In June 2014 Eklund was assaulted by fellow inmates and had to be sent to a hospital. He left the hospital and returned to prison the same day.